Is it possible to find humanity during a presidential debate?

NEW YORK — About 24 hours before the start of the consequential presidential debate featuring former President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris, the three young women tending to customers at Amorino Gelato near the Lincoln Center in New York City began a conversation.
“Where are you from?” they asked, as they gathered up my late night pastry order.
“Salt Lake City,” I replied, in town for the 90th Anniversary Symposium of Religion News Service.
“Are you going to be there instead of watching the debate?” asked one of the college-aged workers behind the counter, surprised.
“The debate will be a part of the symposium, with journalists gathered together post-conference to watch it,” I replied.
The substance of our conversation then started:
“Who appeals to you as a young voter, Kamala Harris or Donald Trump?”
“Not Trump,” said one.
“Why not? He’s a New Yorker,” I replied.
“I’m from Puerto Rico,” she said, before recalling the devastation of the slow response by Trump and his administration in 2017 when Hurricane Maria devastated the Caribbean, killing 2,975 in Puerto Rico alone. Trump didn’t care, she said, a dominant image being Trump tossing paper towel rolls into the crowd during an appearance.
She said she would watch the debate — perhaps with students doing a drinking game — but the lack of humanity set her choice in place seven years ago.
Down the road from Amorino the next morning, journalists with RNS and invited participants gathered at Fordham, New York’s Jesuit Catholic University for the symposium. Anticipation of the evening debate was ever-present as researchers and journalists detailed 90 years of religion news, including the tremendous influence chronicling the human rights struggles of immigrants, women, Black people and everyone that followed.
It prompted Deborah Caldwell, CEO of Religion News Foundation and publisher of Religion News Service, to open the conference by stating, “These are unprecedented times.” She then corrected herself — very deliberately to make the point — these are not unprecedented times, but perhaps transitional. The country has been here before.
Hurricane Maria hit seven years ago in September. Today, Hurricane Francine bears down on Louisiana, a state that is no stranger to such tragedy, and that will capture the attention of my new acquaintance from Puerto Rico.
Terrorism, which continues to claim victims in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by the terrorist organization Hamas and Israel’s response, has been present decade after decade. Wednesday morning, down at New York’s Ground Zero, the names of all who perished at the twin towers 23 years ago on Sept. 11 were read by family members who lost loved ones. President Joe Biden and Harris were here, as was Trump, both candidates in town from Pennsylvania following the debate, joined by other dignitaries.
It took hours to read the names of those who perished on 9/11, the readings paused only to ring a bell in solemn remembrance of the times each tragic event occurred: 8:46 a.m., American Flight 11 hits the South Tower; 9:03 a.m., United 175 hits the North Tower; 9:37 a.m., Flight 77 strikes the Pentagon; 9:59 a.m., the South Tower falls; 10:03 a.m., United 93 crashes in Shanksville; 10:28 a.m., the North Tower falls.
Sister Norma Pimentel was at the RNS conference the day before to share her experiences at The Humanitarian Respite Center, a shelter run by Catholic Charities in Southwest Texas. She said she would be interested in the debate, and in the policies that will follow for America’s troubled southern border now and after the election. Deseret News national political reporter Samuel Benson went to profile “The nun at the border” earlier this year, so we know of her work and sacrifice.
Sister Pimentel, a nun of the Missionaries of Jesus, said she too looks for humanity, particularly in the care of children who have come across the border, with or without parents. But there would not be much humanity in evidence during the debate.
Here’s what Harris and Trump said on immigration:
Immediately, with the first question on the economy, Trump launched into trouble at the border: “They are taking over the towns. They’re taking over buildings. They’re going in violently. These are the people that she and Biden let into our country. And they’re destroying our country. They’re dangerous. They’re at the highest level of criminality. And we have to get them out. We have to get them out fast.”
David Muir, the ABC moderator, later asked Harris: “Why did the administration wait until six months before the election to act (on immigration) and would you have done anything differently from President Biden on this?”
Harris did not directly answer the question, but said that she was “the only person on this stage who has prosecuted transnational criminal organizations for the trafficking of guns, drugs, and human beings.” She blamed Trump for influencing Republicans to scuttle a bipartisan border bill earlier in the year, “Because he preferred to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem,” she said.
Throughout the debate, the search for humanity was left wanting. Perhaps that’s how debates go. Journalists watching the debate said they were interested in hearing fact-checking, and nodded approvingly when facts were checked or challenged. But critics rightly noted that Harris’ misstatements were not checked by the moderators. They claimed it was one-sided debate questioning.
In the light of day Wednesday, the families of 9/11 victims would gather privately following the public ceremonies to remember lost ones, the first responders and the everyday citizens now gone for more than two decades. Perhaps the love of humanity was not there at the National Constitution Center under the competitive lights of a contentious debate. But it was present at Ground Zero.
Harris and Trump greeted each other, smiled, shook hands, and stood together with Biden to remember and honor those who lost their lives. It is estimated that of the 2,977 people killed on 9/11, 67 were immigrants lacking permanent legal status. Many of those worked at the restaurant Windows on the World that topped the North Tower. They were also remembered Wednesday.
I asked Sister Pimentel about the election and who she hoped would win in November. Would it make a difference in the compassionate work she is doing?
She replied that policies will make a difference, but in terms of which candidate she hopes will win the presidential election, she had a simple, heartfelt response.
“The one who will heal.”